For the last six months, a coordinated dialog has been taking place among a number of the key worker cooperative development and networking organizations in the Bay Area community, a collective initiative to lift the movement onto a higher scale, and make a truly significant regional impact. The Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NoBAWC) has been a participant in this process.

A documentary film by Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler about the factory RiMaflow in Milan, Italy, which has been recovered by the workers after the former owners engaged in a fraudulent bankruptcy. The facility used to make auto parts but is now run as an open factory and is owned and controlled by its workers as a worker cooperative.

THE LOSS OF PUBLIC HOPE?

by Len Krimerman, GEO Collective

Some days it does seem that we are on the wrong planet, that the worst aspects of humanity are now beyond challenge and are inescapably producing disasters – unending warfare, global climate crises, abominable increases in child slavery – that will bring short term profits to a few and leave the rest of us penniless and powerless. In his book, Radical Democracy, philosopher C. D. Lummis speaks of the “loss of public hope”:

[Editor's note: In Greece, Thessaloniki's VIOME cooperative recently celebrated their second year in operation. Like many "recovered businesses" in Latin America, VIOME has faced continuing legal threats to its existence since workers first occupied their factory. Despite the fact that the former owners stole hundreds of millions in wages from their employees—a crime for which they were found guilty— the cooperative is now being faced with a possible liquitdation order from a

[Editor's note: in this important webinar, Elandria Williams and Jessica Gordon Nembhard of the US Solidarity Economy Network (SEN) host a discussion on the issues and conflicts surrounding race and colonization in the Cooperative/Solidarity Economy Movements. Presenters include Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress, Cecilia Martinez of the Center for Ea

On November 15, 2014, Brooklyn for Peace (BFP) celebrated its 30th anniversary by honoring Noam Chomsky with the Pathmaker to Peace Award. Noam Chomsky is the “father of modern linguistics,” a relentless critic of US foreign policy, and a world renowned champion of the struggle for social justice.

[Editor's note: Here is a long video with some great panelists from the Elevate Festival 2014, held in Graz, Austria. Amy Goodman's opening statement begins at 22:56; Friederike Habermann's segment begins at 39:20; Felix Stalder begins at 45:43; and Silke Helfrich gives her intial statement at 52:08. At 2 hours and 20 minutes, there's a lot of food for thought here.]

Marina Sitrin and Dario Azellini, authors of the book They Can't Represent Us, discuss the roots of revolt in Latin America, Greece, and the US, and the change from a politics of representation to a politics of cooperation. GRITtv's Laura Flanders conducts the interview.

The video embedded in the full story below is a session with David Harvey, a prolific author championing Freedom of the City and David Graeber, the Occupy Activist, Anarchist, Anthropologist. The videw is almost an hour and a half and both authors take substantial time to provide context on both the books and their feelings about #occupy. Harvey's book is Rebel Cities and Graeber's is Debt: The First 5000 Years. There is a lot of good thought and support for co-operative action and power.